IDDC

Parliamentarians stand up for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Support for Persons with Disabilities in the new European Parliament

7 July 2009: Today, 9 MEPs gathered together to say “I stand up for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Europe and Overseas”. This group photo marked the end of a Europe-wide signature gathering. It also provided an opportunity for the MEPs to start planning how they can support the rights of persons with disabilities in the 5 years ahead.  

All the MEPs were part of the group of 25 MEPs who were elected having signed the International Disability and Development Consortium’s statement. This is the result of EU-wide signature gathering which has been run by IDDC members during the election campaign - and will be continued to gather support from newly elected MEPs. Signatories represent the 4 main political groups and come from 9 different EU member states.

“We have seen growing support for the rights of persons with disabilities during the 2004-2009 parliamentary term. The election of 25 parliamentarians who have signed the IDDC statement is an excellent basis for continuing this engagement”, said Johannes Trimmel, Vice Chair of IDDC. “In the current context of crises and threats of cutting development budgets, it is more important than ever to have strong political support for persons with disabilities in developing countries who are often amongst the most marginalised communities” explained Trimmel further.

The EC, as a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and manager of up to one-fifth of the EU’s development aid, has an obligation to ensure that the money is spent in a way that includes persons with disabilities. Given the fact that children with disabilities make up one third of the total number of children of primary school age not in school, not one more cent should be spent building inaccessible schools. For development to be truly inclusive, no policy should ever be propped up by EC aid if it fails to take into account the views of persons with disabilities themselves. "To ensure this, the newly elected European Parliament has an important role to play." said Fiona Hall MEP.

MEPs in the picture from left to right are: Michael Cashman, Jorg Leichtfried, Evelyn Regner, Fiona Hall, Liz Lynne, Eva Lichtenberger, Proinsias de Rossa and Dr. Adam Kosa. Paul Rubig was also present.

• Download the IDDC press release